UPDATE (2/2/2024): After this article was published, we were informed the sales listing was posted in error and the property is indeed for lease. To confirm, Durst is NOT selling this property and hopefully this will be leased out and activated again soon. The article below has been updated accordingly.
Sometimes, we like to head out on foot without a set plan or direction, allowing the vibes of the day to take us where they may. On this dreary, gray, mid-winter day, those vibes took us to exactly the type of place we can’t get enough of during the doldrums of this especially-overcast season.
Beautiful, right? That right there is Pier 24, also known as 401 N. Columbus Blvd., which in the past was used as dumpster storage, food prep space, and a surface parking lot. Amazingly, we have never once touched upon this property during the entire history of your favorite blog; despite its two-acre size and suboptimal usage staring us right in the face for years, we have just missed talking about this eyesore. To better get your bearings straight, this fenced-off surface lot sits just to the north of Dave & Buster’s and just to the south of Cavanaugh’s River Deck, both of which have been operating on either side of this property for many years.
While not the most inspiring in its current form, there is some news. You may have noticed in the sign above – this site is being marketed for lease. However, when we went to check out the page, we noticed something interesting: the site had a for-sale listing up (NOTE: this was in error, see above). This listing also appeared to include the Cavanaugh’s property to the north, bringing the total size of the site up to five acres.
As for the owners of this property? None other than an LLC tied to the Durst Organization, who purchased this property – along with several others along the waterfront – when it began to make plans for a mixed-use future several years back before taking a pause more recently. Interestingly, it seems as if the Cavanaugh’s property is under a different ownership group altogether, further adding to this previous confusion.
Now that we know what is actually taking place here, we hope that something worthwhile leases out this large space. This fenced off property isn’t doing much good as is, so perhaps we’ll see something exciting to activate its two acres along the water. With the ever busy (perhaps too busy) Delaware River Trail likely to get even busier in the coming years with new projects and new parks on the way, we’re crossing our fingers that something besides more parking will head to the water.